


Messages From a Hacker

by AdrianaintheSnow



Series: Folds in Time [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: A bit of an invasion of privacy/ sorta stalkerish but not really, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Character with Depression and Anxiety, M/M, but he has developed good coping methods and uses them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 09:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaintheSnow/pseuds/AdrianaintheSnow
Summary: Virgil gets a strange email in the middle of the night. It turns out to be from the guy who put a virus in the university’s network.(AKA 5 times Virgil fell in love with some guy over DMs via the virus he put on the campus computers and 1 time he gay panicked because he met him in person and he was hot. Oh no!)Set during Folds in Paper
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Folds in Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925749
Comments: 71
Kudos: 130





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here, have a fun analogical interlude!

Virgil had just clicked on yet another archived video when there was a loud ping that made him almost hop out of his desk chair. Once his heart rate calmed down after a few moments, he waved his hand to open the notification and figure out who on earth was sending him an email at this hour. The answer to that apparently was “Unknown.” His mind immediately went to every horror movie from every century that he’d ever watched ever. But then he remembered suddenly the virus on his integrator and the entire university system that the tech department was trying so hard to get rid of to no avail. It couldn’t be…

He tapped to open the email. ‘You’re in your office rather late. -L’ is all it said.

‘Fucking creepy dude,’ he wrote back immediately and after a moment added ‘-anxious mess you just sent a horror movie intro to.’ He pressed send and it immediately pinged back to him as an invalid email address.

Yet, despite that, he got a response a couple of seconds later. ‘Dear AM, Apologies. I simply was glancing through what programs continued to run at the university at this time of night and noticed your desktop was on. I did not mean to cause any duress. I was simply curious.-L’

Virgil hummed and sat forward to type. ‘Well don’t just send emails like that without warning. Jesus. …What are you looking for in the computers anyway?-AM’

‘Dear AM, I am simply looking for information. As I have stated. I am curious.-L’

‘curious? dude you hacked an international university.-AM who is lucky he didn’t lose his job over that.’

‘Yes-L’ was the response and Virgil could almost hear the amusement in the word. Before he could reply or decide to ignore him for being snarky, Virgil got another email. ‘What are you doing here so late?-L’

Virgil raised an eyebrow at the screen, though he knew Lo could not see it. Virgil had long ago made absolutely certain he knew what parts of his integrator could record his face and how to make them not be able to do that. ‘can’t you just see?-AM’ he asked.

‘I could, but I’m respecting your privacy as it doesn’t seem integral to my goals from first glance.-L’

‘I thought your goals were curiosity?’ Virgil shot back instantly.

There was a long pause and Virgil actually thought about going back to his video before there was another ding as an email notification popped up again. ‘It’s a different kind of curiosity.’

Virgil had to think about that one for a few long moments. He tapped his fingers on his desk and then hesitantly leaned back over to type in the box, ‘is my kidney going to be stolen at some point in the future?-AM living up to his name.’

‘I very much hope that is a joke. I am not always adept at discerning tone over text.-L’

‘it’s like… 90% a joke-AM’ He sent that and then, after a moment followed up with, ‘…watching old YouTube videos about Sasquatch.-AM’

‘Anything interesting?-L’

‘yes, I am totally convinced.-AM (that’s a joke btw).’

‘Hmm… have you heard of gigantopithecus blacki?-L’

‘I’m an anthropologist. Of course I have, but don’t even try to convince me that one of them somehow survived and lived hidden in the woods in the 20th century.-AM’

Lo sent back just two words. ‘Time travel.-L‘

‘shit,’ Virgil sent back. ‘Shit. Shit. SHIT. You can just say tha!. Oh my goD. I never thought about that. FUck what if it is? what if someone took a giant ape and and took it to the 20th and 21st century just to fuk with people and make them think they were mad? that would change the entire way we look at mythical creatures… What if dragons were dinosaurs??????????-Literally an Anxious Man Right Now. How Could You Do This To Me????’

‘;) -L’

‘…bastard.-AM’

‘Watch this to make up for it. It’s a fairly interesting investigation, and I am fairly sure in this case it was just a mangy dog.-L’ ‘Unknown shared a link’ popped up on his desktop.

‘that’s sus, man.-AM’ Virgil typed back, but he did click on the link bringing up a documentary.

‘Do you mind if I watch it with you?-L’

Virgil was confused because why would he need permission to… ‘You mean like… you creeping on my computer don’t you?-AM’

‘It would be the best way to keep our watching synced-L’ he pointed out.

‘…Fine, but no getting into my search history…. even if your sushi advice did sort of help.-AM’

‘Agreed.-L’

And that is how Virgil ended up watching a documentary about chupacabras with a guy who had hacked into his computer at 3am.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is very unhappy when his favorite web series is suddenly in the wrong order.

‘Put. It. Back.’ Virgil typed out the message, wishing that somehow text could communicate the burning rage he was feeling right now. It was 8am, which was far too early for this bullshit. The one day he managed to get to his office early and had just enough time to watch one short episode of his favorite show, and Lo, the man who had hacked the university’s files, decided to destroy his entire life out of nowhere. Virgil pushed send on the email but didn’t even wait for the ping back that the address he was trying to send it to was invalid.

Instead, he just typed out more emails.

‘ _Put it back!_ ’

‘ **Put it back!** ’

‘ _ **Put it back!**_ ’

‘ _ **PUT IT BACK!!!**_ ’

_**KFJSSIJFPAIJFIAJFIAJIAJFIPAKNCLZVNSDLO** _

Finally, after about 30 seconds, he received an email from “Unknown”. It read, ‘?-L’.

‘You rearranged my video files-AM who is going to find you and murder you. How dARE!’

‘Are you referring to the Epithet File web series?-L’

‘Yes! I! Am! Talking about the Epithet File series! Do you know how long I spent organizing that???-AM’

‘Well, you didn’t do a very good job.-L’

Virgil just about sent a fist through his screen.

‘Bastard-AM’ he typed out instead and sent send. Then, he pushed reply again. ‘I’m going to steal your kneecaps-AM’

He had no reference for what Lo’s face looked like, but he could feel the amused smirk oozing from the next words that appeared on his screen. ‘Is that so?-L’

‘yeS-AM’ Then, ‘I spent my entire time in college, both my undergrad and my grad schools, sorting that series into the perfect order, and lord help me. No! Lord help _you_ if my eyes have to see anything else even in the University’s library.’

‘Wouldn’t it be far more logical to put the series in release order?-L’

‘ **NO** ’ He almost shouted the word out loud while pushing send. He took a breath and then typed once more. ‘No. It was released out of order. The author herself admits that it was not released in its intended watch order… also that she herself doesn’t actually know the watch order, but that is beside the point.-AM’

‘Well then, it should at least be in chronological order in universe. You have the prequel and side series intermixed in your watch order. You even added in the non-canon specials.-L’

‘No! That wouldn’t make sense either! What? Are we supposed to just start on Diablos backstory and then jump randomly to Carson becoming the Winged Blitz? Come on! Clearly _Vincent’s Faults_ comes first!’

‘Then we are back to release order.-L’

‘No! The point of the series is its themes. To truly understand and experience it, you have to chronologically order each of the subseries (which is hard, by the way, because the timelines are sketchy at best) and then intermingle them in a way that highlights the different messages the story is trying to send. Acceptance of one’s self, healing from trauma, deciding to be a hero, showing those close to you that you love them even when things are tough or you are angry at them, accepting change in yourself and in the world around you, those are the things that matter in the story. The order has to revolve around those things. I mean, what would be the point of watching Felix reject his family if you hadn’t seen him later in his life be the antithesis of what they taught him? The impact of Captain Lander’s self-doubt means so much more when you already know her end. The contrast between the contemplation of Apollo and the fall of his mother only has impact when you already know the character as an adult and are aware of his ultimate decision.-AM’

‘That seem far more complicated.-L’

‘yeah, well, there was a solid month in my sophomore year where figuring out where in the timeline i should put the s’more short (considering its relevance to _Wiped_ ) was literally my only reason to live-AM’

There was a long time after that without a message and Virgil felt himself panic.

‘haha jk’

‘JK’

‘ _JK!_ Shit! You have not leveled up high enough in the friend ranking to read that message.’

‘Apologies. I was typing a longer response. I would assume you would prefer I delete said response and act as though I did not read the original message.-L’

That was… that was sweet honestly. A little blunt, but still very sweet. ‘…You are… moving up in the friendship ranking. I will give you that. Not enough to read that message still, but, yeah…-AM’

‘I am honored-L’

Virgil felt his cheeks warm and immediately wanted to slap himself. ‘i mean don’t be too honored. you can only get so far as a faceless being running a virus on the university system.-AM’

‘And if I put the series back in the order you had it?-L’

‘…you’ll get a little higher.’

‘I am still not sure exactly why the order you propose is the best. Perhaps I should re-watch the series in that order.-L’

‘wait. srry. maybe this was obvious, but you’ve _watched it before_??-AM’

‘I have.-L’

‘DUDE WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART?? TELL ME NOW! TELL ME NOW!!-AM’

‘…Very well. Give me a few minutes to adequately organize my thoughts and prepare a message.-L’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has a bad day and gets coffee.

Virgil shut his office door behind him and immediately pressed his back into it. He slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the floor. “Breathe Virgil, breathe,” he instructed himself. He started a breathing exercise, and that helped make it feel less like there was concrete in his lungs. He tilted his head back, so it rested against the door. “It’s fine,” he told himself. “You’re okay.” He was starving off a panic attack and felt like a piece of shit, but it would pass.

His shoulders slumped after a few minutes of being alone. He felt… well he didn’t exactly feel good, and he’d probably cry if he had to leave his office anytime in the next three hours, but it was manageable. It was just a bad day. It still had hit him like a truckload of bricks though.

He looked up. His office was always a bit messy, but Virgil honestly didn’t mind. It had a certain charm to it. There were different coats strewn over chairs and knickknacks and artifacts from various centuries were intermingled on different surfaces. He even had a yixing clay tea set that he’d crafted himself in his undergrad anthropology club. It looked ugly as hell and it had taken him so many tries to make a pot that could actually hold water, but lord knew he was proud of the damned thing.

He sighed and reached for the device in his pocket. He resolutely didn’t look at any emails he’d gotten since he’d last checked. They could wait. Instead, he opened the app he’d paid a tech student to make for him years ago. He was always careful to sync his work and personal calendar to it and input any important data missing manually. He clicked the big green button in the center and then confirmed the action with another click.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulder instantly. That button would send out a message to anyone he was supposed to meet today that he wasn’t able to see them and would reschedule sometime tomorrow. It would also ping a similar message back to anyone who emailed him later today and tell the front desk he was not open for walk-ins. There was also a yellow button and a red one. He’d thankfully never felt the need to use the red one and had not used the yellow one in years.

His brain could say what it wanted about Virgil being trash today, but past Virgil was a legit hero.

Responsibilities dealt with for the time being, he closed his eyes and sat for a few minutes until there was a soft knock on the door. Virgil cringed immediately. “Yeah?” he called.

“Coffee was delivered for you Professor Eran,” Benny, the office security said.

Virgil frowned. “I didn’t order coffee,” he said.

“It was addressed to you and it’s paid for,” Benny said.

Still confused, he got to his feet and opened the door. Benny did, in fact, have a cup of coffee from the coffee shop on campus. He handed it to Virgil. Virgil caught sight of the writing on the side when the cup changed hands. It had his name written on it, but it also had a small message under it. ‘Saw you were having a bad day. Hope this helps. (Yes, I bought it through legal means.)-L’

Virgil looked up at Benny. “Thanks,” he said. Benny nodded and turned to walk back to his desk.

This time, Virgil actually walked into his office instead of collapsing next to the door, so that was progress. He made it to his desk and immediately crawled under it, setting the still warm coffee cup out of the way on the floor. He then reached into the bottom drawer of his desk that he kept stocked just for days like today. He pulled out a blanket that he and his best friend in grad school had hand crocheted together for one of their practicums. They’d made two blankets between them, passing it back and forth and each had kept one at the end. He tucked that around his shoulder, immediately being surrounded by the smell of peppermint. The origin of that smell being the second thing he pulled out: peppermint lotion. He also grabbed out one of his many fidget spinners. There were other things in there too. He left them there for now, but kept the drawer open so he could see all of them.

He put on some lotion and curled up into a lump under the blanket. He glanced at the coffee and reached for it, taking a sip. It was black coffee with a splash of milk, and Virgil was immediately relieved that Lo had ordered Virgil something Virgil had mentioned he liked to him. It implied that he actual was respecting Virgil’s privacy like he’d said he would and wasn’t going about searching up things not relevant to what he was doing like Virgil’s coffee orders on the university system like a creep. Of course… he still must have intercepted the messages Virgil’s app had sent out. Virgil could forgive that one though. Lo admitted that he kept an eye on what Virgil was doing because of his connection to the TPI and the sudden barrage of messages would have raised a flag. It made sense that he looked at it. He’d still give him shit for it the next time he talked to him though. Didn’t want him getting too comfortable with the stalking.

Still, it was… nice. It was a little gesture, but it meant a lot on a day like today. He read and re-read the message a couple of times. You know what? What the hell.

He turned and reached into a different desk drawer and pulled out a small device. It was what he used when he needed to video chat with someone not at the university. He’d kept it in the drawer even before Lo hacked the system, because Virgil didn’t like feeling like someone could be watching him at any moment.

Today, though, he stuck it to the side of the desk so it faced him and then turned on the Bluetooth to let it connect to his integrator.

He pulled out his phone and pushed reply on the favorited message chain from “Unknown.” ‘Video chat?-AM’

He got a reply in an instant. ‘Not with my face.-L’

‘k-AM’

The light that indicated his face was being broadcasted turned on a moment later. Virgil stared at it for a moment. “You are going to, like, talk though, right? ‘Cause just watching me is creepy,” he said.

“Yes,” Lo’s voice sounded amused. It crackled oddly over the machine. Virgil wondered where and when he was. “You have already heard my voice, so I am not particularly concerned.”

“Cool,” Virgil said. There was an awkward beat of silence where Virgil didn’t have any idea how to proceed. “Thanks for the coffee by the way. Still a bit creepy, but a nice gesture.”

“I only glanced at the emails,” Lo promised.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the good guy stalker who sorta kinda respects my privacy.”

“It is a purely professional stalking, I assure you,” Lo said dryly.

Virgil snorted. “So, no naked pictures of me being leaked?”

“I only have access to the university system,” Lo said, “and you don’t even usually have cameras accessible in your office. Do you make a habit of taking your clothing off in non-private rooms at your place of employment?”

“Think my ANT 260 course would pay more attention if I started taking my clothes off in the middle of lecture?”

“I believe they would likely become more distracted,” Lo said. Virgil ignored the fact that there could have been a bit of a flirt to that one.

“I’d also defiantly get fired.”

“Hmm, that as well.”

Virgil smiled and took another sip of his coffee.

“Are you alright?” Lo asked. His voice got a little warmer when he asked, like he actually cared.

“It’s just a bad day,” Virgil sighed. “I’ll be alright in a bit. I know how to handle it.”

“Do they happen a lot?” Lo asked.

Virgil shook his head. “Not anymore. They’re pretty rare actually. I mean, I’m an anxious mess half the time, but that’s not what this is.”

“I see,” he said. There was silence. “Was there a reason?”

“Mmm,” Virgil replied. “Yes and no. I didn’t get enough sleep this week, I was stressed about a meeting that happened this morning, and I messed up during lecture. They’re all things that happen sometimes. I don’t always have bad days because of them.” He shrugged. “Brains are weird.”

“Can I help?” he asked.

Virgil gestured with the coffee in his hands. “You already did.”

“It doesn’t seem adequate.”

Virgil hummed. “Getting physical proof that someone likes me at least a little is good for reminding myself I’m not a total waste of space.”

“You are not a waste of space at all,” he said firmly. It sounded like a fact to Virgil’s ears.

Virgil felt warmth in his chest. It did not quite chase off all of the shadows inside of him right now, but it was still pleasant. He was surprised. He didn’t usually like to talk to people when he felt like this. Usually, their reassurances felt like lies and made him feel worse. There was something different about Lo though. Maybe it was just that he was a truly unbiased party or maybe it was something else.

“Talk to me?” he requested.

“Certainly. Pick a topic.”

“How about… everything about the virus you used to hack the university.”

Lo chuckled a bit. “A different topic,” he said.

“Cheater,” Virgil accused, but then he said, “What do you know about the invention of airplanes?”

It turned out Lo knew a lot about the invention of airplanes.


End file.
